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Trial
Trials are an option for all playable and AI character with a rank of at least Commoner to charge someone of their crimes, with evidence which can be for example be witnessed personally, gathered with a thug or an informant, or forged with Sorcerer Documents. Once a character has been charged, a trial will begin 9 a.m. the next year. It is however also possible for the charged character to turn themselves in, in which case they will be arrested immediately, and forced to spend 4 years in the dungeon. Characters with "Immunity" cannot be charged against, unless the Ruler has revoked their "Immunity" privilegia. Evidence Evidence from various types of sources have variable Strengths (representing the validity of your collected evidence), descending below: Attendance Starting at 9 a.m., the character of the judicial position from the city checks if all participants have arrived at the meeting hall. If it is the case, then the trial will start immediately. Should however someone miss the deadline of the trial, then the city takes action, depending of which participants have defaulted: If the accusor misses out at the trial on their own accord, then their collected evidence will be rendered invalid, and the accused will be free to go. If the accused misses out at the trial on their own accord, or is arrested by the City Guards commanded by the character who holds the office of the Security position (Marshal, Colonel, Captain or Bailiff), then the accused will be declared an outlaw for 4 years, meaning all characters of the city, if they wish so, can eliminate the outlaw at their own will without fearing evidence being collected against (though the reputation penalty will still remain). If the chief judge misses out at the trial on their own accord, then they will be fined and the trial is postponed to the next year. If one of the other judges misses out at the trial on their own accord, then they will be fined, and replaced with a Serf judge, which always votes at a neutral position of the law and cannot be influenced at all. If however any of the main participants should be kidnapped under any circumstances, then the trial will be postponed indefinitely until the kidnapped participant has been set free. In any case of postponing a trial, note that the validation of collected evidence may still run out, and more evidence may be collected against the the accused. Sequence of events In a case that all participants arrive at the meeting hall, the lawsuit will progress... Unless the prosecutor has forfeited all their expired evidence, in that case, the prosecutor will be charged for the lawsuit costs of 500, and the trial will immediately end. Character Incrimination In other cases, the prosecutor will proceed to charge the accused with the most severe charges (limited at three at a time), depending on the severity in descending order: *Evidence which can be obtained through means of sorcery Note that while bribery has voiced lines as a possible charged evidence, but is no longer a criminal offense. If the accused character posseses the ability of "Halo", the strongest evidence against the accused is rendered invalid. Also, using Sacred Scent provides a moderate chance that any presented evidence may be rendered invalid. Sentence Gauge The Sentence Gauge (displayed at the top middle of the screen) depicts the actual situation of the ongoing trial, and may change accordingly how severe the charges against the accused are. The green bar represents the general severity of a sentence (and may give you a small guideline where to dock your recommendation). The character images below the sentence gauge represent their personal opinion on the severity of the accused' sentence. It depends on the accumulated favour with the accusor and the accused, and may be influenced by the character interactions during the time of respite. These are the following sentences which may be issued by the accuser, and sentenced by the chief judge: If the Accuser of the trial posesses the position of Inquisitor/Bishop, the Law Severity is increased by 3 bars. If the Accused possesses the title of "Baron" and thus is of noble birth, the Law Severity is reduced by 3 bars. Also, due to a bug, this also applies to AI Characters possessing a title of Free Citizen and higher. Also, voiced lines exist suggesting an unused "Loss of office"-Sentence to be between the pillory and high fine sentences, but ultimately went unsed. Commentation of the Accused After the sentence has been issued by the accuser, the accused has the option to plead themselves "guilty", "not guilty", or to simply not comment. If the accused decides to plead "Not Guilty", the game performs a value check by comparing the Rhetoric Skill of the accused and the Empathy Skill of the Chief Judge. If it matches or is higher than the value of the Empathy of the Chief Judge, the Law Severity is reduced by 5 bars, otherwise it is increased by the same amount. If the accused decides to plead themselves "guilty", the Law Severity is reduced by 3 bars, however, the guilty check is replaced by a check on whether the Severity of Sentence is just or unreasonable. If the accused remains silent, none of the above applies, and the trial proceeds as normal. Issue of Sentence After the Commentation of the Accused, the court will decide on whether the accused is guilty or innocent. If the accused has plead themselves "guilty", the court will instead decide whether the issued sentence of the accuser is justified enough. In case of the player being the chief judge or one of the assessors, they may vote for their own accord. In case of "Pleading Not Guilty or Remaining Silent" If all assessors vote "Guilty", the accused will be charged with the full sentence issued by the accuser. If two assessors vote "Guilty", the accused will be charged with the sentence of a lower severity than the one issued by the accuser. Otherwise, the accused is to be declared innocent, and the accuser will be charged for the trial costs of 500. In case of "Pleading Guilty" If two or more assessors vote "Just and fitting", the accused will be charged with the full sentence issued by the accuser. Otherwise, the accused will be charged with the sentence of a lower severity than the one issued by the accuser. Tips and helpful information for trials Taking part as an accuser * Possessing the position as the Consul makes reducing favour between the assessors and the accused significantly easier by "throwing down a false gauntlet". * You can also read a torrent of hatred to someone who takes part as an assessor. Select the "Torrent of Hatred"-Artifact (craftable with a Cathedral of the Protestant faith), afterwards select the accused in order to cause them be hated, and finally select the assessor to read it to them. * Reading a "Letter of Rome" has a stronger impact to the accused, and a less tedious task to the accuser. However, it has situational usage, and cannot be used on a character with the same faith. * You may reduce the mental abilities of the accused with a "Ghostly Fog", however note that this will give the "Poison & Evil Concoction" evidence against you. * If a family member possesses the position of the judicial office, you will have a guaranteed vote of your own choice (unless controlled by the AI, in which case it will depend on the Sentence meter) and a family member with a very high empathy will help you raise the Sentence meter even higher. * The AI characters have a hidden "Fear" meter, which depends their likelyhood to appeal against the issued sentence by the accuser. This gives the AI characters a likelyhood of 80% or 100% in case of prison or death respectively to appeal the sentence. * As with all office meetings, wearing perfume and other favour-increasing items will help you at the trial. Taking part as an accused * Taking part as an accused will be harder than on the accuser's side, as the NPC characters have a reason to charge you. A strong Rhetoric skill will help you reduce the Sentence meter by pleading "Not Guilty". * However, do not plead "Not Guilty" if your Rhetoric meter is not at a sufficient level, as this will raise the Sentence meter if the speech-check fails. * You can check the accusor's and assessor's skills by observing them with a thug. * You can attempt to use the pendulum of hypnosis on the accuser's side to make them miss the trial, but this has a chance to fail if your Arcane Knowledge is not high enough. * Eliminating the accuser by banishing them or killing them is a drastic measure, but will prevent the trial from taking place. This is not the case of kidnapping, as it will only postpone the trial. * As with all office meetings, wearing perfume and other favour-increasing items will help you at the trial. Taking part as an assessor * If you're part of the trial as an assessor, you will have a free vote, which may be impactful for the issued sentence. * A strong Empathy helps raising the Sentence meter by a high amount in case should the accused try to plead "Not Guilty". A chief assessor with maxed Empathy and Cancer as family sign who reaches an Empathy Skill of 11 cannot be persuaded under all normal circumstances, which virtually guarantees a stronger sentence against all AI characters. * However, unlike many other Rhetoric-increasing Artifacts, only the Sorcerer Robe from the Graveyard can be used to raise the Empathy skill. * Setting the Law Severity at the Town Hall will influence the severity of future sentences.